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Nat. Procurement Com. official plan tomorrow, a year after appointment
View(s):The independent National Procurement Commission (NPC) is amending Sri Lanka’s National Procurement guidelines and manual, and will release an official plan tomorrow, more than a year after it was appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena.
A committee is drafting the amendments, sources said, adding that, the NPC will also launch its website in a ceremony at BMICH tomorrow. They added that the NPC had initially sought the Attorney General’s advice on how to proceed with the regulatory role granted it by the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The NPC was allocated Rs 43.5 million in the 2017 Budget.
In August last year, the NPC sent out a letter to the Secretaries of the President, Prime Minister, Cabinet of Ministers, Ministries as well as the Chief Secretaries of Provincial Councils, announcing its intention to upgrade the prevailing Procurement guidelines and manuals issued by the National Procurement Agency (NPA) and the Treasury’s Public Finance Dept. It sought suggestions and recommendations and called for its letter to be circulated among all procurement entities.
The NPC is empowered to formulate fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective procedures and guidelines for procurement of goods, services, works, consultancies and information systems for Government institutions, the letter observed.
Among other things, the NPC asked what sections of the existing guidelines should be deleted for not being technically relevant; problems that have been identified when dealing with external parties; new areas to be introduced; and ambiguities within present guidelines.
The NPC Chairman is Nihal Wickremasuriya, former Vice Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board.